YouGov | Newshttps://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018-05-24T17:21:28+00:00YouGovRamadan presents opportunities for UAE retailersKerry McLarenkerry.mclaren@yougov.com/en/people/kerry.mclaren/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/05/23/ramadan-presents-opportunities-uae-retailers/
<h3>Over half of UAE shoppers already have purchases in mind that they want to make this Ramadan</h3>
<p>Ramadan is set to provide a boost for UAE retailers, with two in five (40%) consumers believing that Ramadan has the best offers and is the best period for them to make all their purchases, new YouGov research reveals.</p>
<p>The data shows that three quarters (76%) of people in the Emirate are &ldquo;Ramadan shoppers&rdquo; &ndash; those who make either planned or impulsive purchases during the holy month. This is a higher proportion that the average for consumers in other Gulf Cooperation Council member states. Approaching three in five (58%) state that they already have certain purchases in mind that they want to make this Ramadan.</p>
<p>YouGov&rsquo;s research finds that while consumers are on the look-out for promotions across a broad range of categories, many are focusing in on offers in certain specific areas. Over half are looking for deals in groceries and fresh produce (54%) and clothes (51%), while well over a third are keen to find mobile phone (39%) and fashion accessory (36%) bargains.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-05-23/UAE.png" style="width: 100%;" /></p>
<p>The study suggests that brands only really matter when it comes to big ticket Ramadan purchases. Around half pick look for specific brand offers for cars (54%), mobile devices (54%), computers and laptops (50%), cameras (49%), while over four in ten seek out offers from big names in the household electronic (45%), beauty product (44%), and household appliance (41%) spaces.</p>
<p>Despite the growth in e-tailing over recent years, the research shows that few (9%) plan to only shop online during Ramadan. Instead, the majority plan to spend at least some of their shopping time either exclusively at the mall/in store (39%) or a combination of in-store and online (38%). Around one in seven (14%) will shop wherever has the best promotions.</p>
<p>Yet despite this preference for physical stores, consumers may divert from their normal shopping behaviour during Ramadan. Over four in ten (44%) will go to a different mall than usual if it either has good offers across its stores or if it has their preferred brands on sale. Fewer people (39%) state that they will go only to their preferred malls irrespective of the offers/promotions available.</p>
<p>The research shows that although a lot of shopping is done in-store, many customers get to know of offers through electronic channels. Around four in ten find out about promotions via social media ads (42%) and internet ads (39%), while three in ten (30%) hear through promotional emails/SMS from companies and brands. There is still a space for more traditional methods, however, with in-store adverts (38%), word-of-mouth (33%), and out-of-home (33%) influencing the choices of Ramadan shoppers.</p>
<p>Ramadan represents an enormous opportunity &ndash; both for retailers and customers. While it is fair to say that, on the whole, consumers want bargains, the key for shops &ndash; be they online or actual stores &ndash; is important to know what type of deals they are looking for and on what products. Our data shows that when it comes to Ramadan many people want offers and promotions on things like mobiles, clothes, and groceries. Shoppers in the Holy month also favour going to malls instead of going online. By understanding the mindset of the Ramadan shopper, retailers and advertisers can reach them more effectively.</p>
Ramadan presents opportunities to Saudi retailersKerry McLarenkerry.mclaren@yougov.com/en/people/kerry.mclaren/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/05/23/ramadan-presents-opportunities-saudi-retailers/
<h3>Almost half of Saudi shoppers already have in mind purchases they want to make this Ramadan</h3>
<p>Ramadan is set to provide a boost for Saudi retailers, with over a third (35%) of consumers believing that holy month has the best offers and is the best period for them to make all their purchases, new YouGov research reveals.</p>
<p>The data shows that two-thirds (66%) of people in the Emirate are &ldquo;Ramadan shoppers&rdquo; &ndash; those who make either planned or impulsive purchases during the month. Approaching half (48%) state that they already have certain purchases in mind that they want to make this Ramadan.</p>
<p>YouGov&rsquo;s research finds that while consumers are on the look-out for promotions across a broad range of categories, many are focusing in on offers in certain specific areas. A majority are looking for deals in clothes (51%), while over four in ten (45%) are keen to find grocery and fresh produce bargains. Around a third are seeking mobile phone (36%), fashion accessory (34%), and beauty product (33%) bargains.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-05-23/KSA.png" style="width: 100%;" /></p>
<p>The study suggests that brands only really matter when it comes to big ticket Ramadan purchases. Around half pick look for specific brand offers for mobile devices (53%), cars (49%), and computers and laptops (49%), while four in ten seek out offers from big names in the digital camera (45%), beauty product (43%), household electronic (41%), and household appliance (40%) spaces.</p>
<p>Despite the growth in e-tailing over recent years, YouGov&rsquo;s research shows that relatively few (16%) plan to only shop online during Ramadan. Instead, the majority plan to spend at least some of their shopping time either exclusively at the mall/in store (37%) or a combination of in-store and online (31%). Around one in six (16%) will shop wherever has the best promotions.</p>
<p>Yet despite this preference for physical stores, consumers may divert from their normal shopping behaviour during Ramadan. Four in ten (40%) will go to a different mall than usual if it either has good offers across its stores or if it has their preferred brands on sale. Fewer people (30%) state that they will go only to their preferred malls irrespective of the offers/promotions available.</p>
<p>The research shows that although a lot of shopping is done in-store, many customers get to know of offers through electronic channels. Around four in ten find out about promotions via social media ads (42%) and internet ads (40%), while a quarter (24%) hear through promotional emails/SMS from companies and brands. There is still a space for more traditional methods, however, with in-store adverts (38%), word-of-mouth (34%), and TV commercials (32%) influencing the choices of Ramadan shoppers.</p>
<p>Ramadan represents an enormous opportunity &ndash; both for retailers and customers. While it is fair to say that, on the whole, consumers want bargains, the key for shops &ndash; be they online or actual stores &ndash; is important to know what type of deals they are looking for and on what products. Our data shows that when it comes to Ramadan many people want offers and promotions on things like mobiles, clothes, and groceries. Shoppers in the Holy month also favour going to malls instead of going online. By understanding the mindset of the Ramadan shopper, retailers and advertisers can reach them more effectively.</p>
Mercedes-Benz see largest shift in positive brand health among women in KSA since driving ban liftedAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/03/28/mercedes-makes-biggest-impact-saudi-women-driving-/
<p>Mercedes-Benz has achieved the biggest improvement in brand health among women in Saudi Arabia&nbsp;since the historical royal decree announcing women will be able to drive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>Six months after the lift on the driving ban was announced, according to fresh data from <a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">YouGov BrandIndex</a> - the daily brand perception tracker, Mercedes has increased its Index score by 4.6 points and now sits just one point behind Toyota, as one of the strongest car brands among women in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>The Index score from YouGov BrandIndex takes into account consumers&rsquo; perception of a brand&rsquo;s overall Quality, Value, Impression, Reputation, Satisfaction and whether consumers would Recommend the brand to others.</p>
<p>The Mercedes-Benz brand has forged a strong connection with women, not least with - &lsquo;She&rsquo;s Mercedes&rsquo;, an initiative launched in 2015 dedicated to fostering dialogue, inspiration and exchange among women. Through &lsquo;She&rsquo;s Mercedes&rsquo; the brand calls on exceptional women from different fields and industries to give their personal insights into topics around business and private life, as well as how to successfully balance the two.</p>
<p>As the date women can legally drive draws ever closer, BrandIndex data shows Ford has also gained significant traction in the past six months and has the second largest improvement in brand health among women increasing its score by 3 points. Ford invested in helping women build confidence behind the wheel&nbsp;in recent months with their Ford Driving Skills for Life for Her&nbsp;initiative. The brand also hit the headlines for its &lsquo;Welcome to the driver&rsquo;s seat&rsquo; ad campaign featuring the eyes of a Saudi woman driver through the rear view mirror, which looks to have paid off.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Top 10 car brands with biggest Index score improvement among Saudi women" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-27/KSA-car-brands-index-improvers.jpg" style="width: 660px; height: 297px;" /></p>
<p>As we enter the final months before Saudi women take to the roads, looking at the top 10 car brands with the highest overall Index scores, <a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/10/03/major-car-brands-may-be-in-line-for-boost/">compared to BrandIndex data released just after the announcement</a>, behind Toyota and Mercedes, BMW and Lexus still stand strong as non-movers in third and fourth place respectively.</p>
<p>Ford remains in fifth position, Land Rover/Range Rover rises from eighth to sixth, while Bentley drops a place to seventh.&nbsp; Chevrolet moves down the rankings one place to eighth but Honda gains a place into ninth position. Hyundai rounds out the top 10 dropping a spot to tenth.</p>
<p align="center"><img alt="Top 10 car brands with highest Index scores among Saudi women" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-27/KSA-car-brands-index-scores.jpg" style="width: 660px; height: 299px;" /></p>
<p>Scott Booth, Head of Data Products in MENA, said; &ldquo;BrandIndex data shows Mercedes and Ford have achieved significant cut through among women in Saudi Arabia in&nbsp;what is a critical time for car brands in the Kingdom as they look to win over a female driver audience. As women size up the cars they would like to drive in anticipation of one of the most momentous occasions for them in the Kingdom&rsquo;s history, the Index score provided by BrandIndex is a powerful single measure of their current appeal in the market among the female population.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Data from YouGov BrandIndex between 26 September 2017 and 26 March 2018 showing the top 10 car brands with the highest average Index score, and highest average increase in Index score among&nbsp;1,349 ​women in Saudi Arabia. The Index score assesses overall brand health. It takes into account perceptions of a Quality, Value, Impression, Reputation, Satisfaction and whether consumers would Recommend the brand to others.</em></p>
Mercedes-Benz sees largest shift in positive brand health among KSA women since driving ban liftedAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/03/28/mercedes-benz-see-largest-shift-positive-brand-hea/
<p>Mercedes-Benz has achieved the biggest improvement in brand health among women in Saudi Arabia&nbsp;since the historical royal decree announcing women will be able to drive in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>Six months after the lift on the driving ban was announced, according to fresh data from <a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">YouGov BrandIndex</a> - the daily brand perception tracker, Mercedes has increased its Index score by 4.6 points and now sits just one point behind Toyota, as one of the strongest car brands among women in Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>The Index score from YouGov BrandIndex takes into account consumers&rsquo; perception of a brand&rsquo;s overall Quality, Value, Impression, Reputation, Satisfaction and whether consumers would Recommend the brand to others.</p>
<p>The Mercedes-Benz brand has forged a strong connection with women, not least with - &lsquo;She&rsquo;s Mercedes&rsquo;, an initiative launched in 2015 dedicated to fostering dialogue, inspiration and exchange among women. Through &lsquo;She&rsquo;s Mercedes&rsquo; the brand calls on exceptional women from different fields and industries to give their personal insights into topics around business and private life, as well as how to successfully balance the two.</p>
<p>As the date women can legally drive draws ever closer, BrandIndex data shows Ford has also gained significant traction in the past six months and has the second largest improvement in brand health among women increasing its score by 3 points. Ford invested in helping women build confidence behind the wheel&nbsp;in recent months with their Ford Driving Skills for Life for Her&nbsp;initiative. The brand also hit the headlines for its &lsquo;Welcome to the driver&rsquo;s seat&rsquo; ad campaign featuring the eyes of a Saudi woman driver through the rear view mirror, which looks to have paid off.</p>
<p><img alt="Top 10 car brands with biggest Index score improvement among Saudi women" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-27/KSA-car-brands-index-improvers.jpg" style="height: 297px; width: 660px;" /></p>
<p>As we enter the final months before Saudi women take to the roads, looking at the top 10 car brands with the highest overall Index scores, <a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/10/03/major-car-brands-may-be-in-line-for-boost/">compared to BrandIndex data released just after the announcement</a>, behind Toyota and Mercedes, BMW and Lexus still stand strong as non-movers in third and fourth place respectively.</p>
<p>Ford remains in fifth position, Land Rover/Range Rover rises from eighth to sixth, while Bentley drops a place to seventh.&nbsp; Chevrolet moves down the rankings one place to eighth but Honda gains a place into ninth position. Hyundai rounds out the top 10 dropping a spot to tenth.</p>
<p align="center"><img alt="Top 10 car brands with highest Index scores among Saudi women" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-27/KSA-car-brands-index-scores.jpg" style="height: 299px; width: 660px;" /></p>
<p>Scott Booth, Head of Data Products in MENA, said; &ldquo;BrandIndex data shows Mercedes and Ford have achieved significant cut through among women in Saudi Arabia in&nbsp;what is a critical time for car brands in the Kingdom as they look to win over a female driver audience. As women size up the cars they would like to drive in anticipation of one of the most momentous occasions for them in the Kingdom&rsquo;s history, the Index score provided by BrandIndex is a powerful single measure of their current appeal in the market among the female population.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Data from YouGov BrandIndex between 26 September 2017 and 26 March 2018 showing the top 10 car brands with the highest average Index score, and highest average increase in Index score among&nbsp;1,349 ​women in Saudi Arabia. The Index score assesses overall brand health. It takes into account perceptions of a Quality, Value, Impression, Reputation, Satisfaction and whether consumers would Recommend the brand to others.</em></p>
Emirates and Almarai top 2018 Women’s Choice Brand RankingsAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/03/23/emirates-and-almarai-top-2018-womens-choice-brand-/
<p>Emirates and Almarai are the most Impressive brands among women in the UAE and Saudi Arabia according to the 2018 Women&rsquo;s Choice Brand Rankings released today by YouGov.</p>
<p>The rankings were compiled using the Impression score from YouGov&rsquo;s daily brand tracker, BrandIndex, by asking respondents, &ldquo;Which of the following brands do you generally have a POSITIVE / NEGATIVE feeling about?&rdquo; Over the past 12 months, BrandIndex data shows the Dubai-based flag carrier airline and the Middle East&rsquo;s largest dairy company have received the highest positive Impression scores among women in their respective countries.</p>
<p>Impression scores provide a fundamental view of how well or poorly a brand resonates with a given population. The last year has seen Emirates host a range of new initiatives, including giving centre stage to its female employees on International Women&rsquo;s Day. The brand gave wings to two female pilots to fly the iconic&nbsp;Emirates&nbsp;Airbus A380 from Dubai to Vienna as part of multiple events to mark&nbsp;the occasion.</p>
<p><img alt="2018 Women's Choice UAE Brand Rankings" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-23/yougov-brandindex-2018-womens-choice-brand-rankings-uae.png " style="width: 660px; height: 592px;" /></p>
<p>Emirates sits ahead of a range of world renowned digital brands in the minds of UAE women with WhatsApp leading the way maintaining second place since this time last year. iPhone makes a debut entry in sixth place, as does Almarai in tenth.</p>
<p>Despite reports of diminished hype around the release of the iPhone 8 Plus in Dubai Mall last year, iPhone made an impact with the iPhone X and takes the top spot for Impression among women aged 18 to 24. The iconic smartphone brand also showed the second largest improvement for Impression among women over the past 12 months, gaining the most positive appeal among those aged 25-34.</p>
<p>The UAE&rsquo;s biggest brand improver overall when it comes to positive Impression among women is Google. The global search giant made the largest gain over the past 12 months, especially among women aged 35-44, rising five places from tenth to fifth. Google honoured women worldwide on International Women&rsquo;s day 2017 with a Google Doodle slideshow to celebrate some of the female pioneers who paved the way to where we are today. In late 2016 Google also launched a YouTube hub called Batala, to promote female-led content.</p>
<p><img alt="2018 Women's Choice UAE Brand Rankings Improvers" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/yougov-brandindex-2018-womens-choice-brand-rankings-improvers-uae.png" style="width: 660px; height: 534px;" /></p>
<p>Almarai continued to resonate positively with consumers last year. The brand&nbsp;was one of the first to release their Ramadan campaign, a television commercial focusing on the emotion behind Ramadan, which received 1.5 million Facebook views within three hours.</p>
<p><img alt="2018 Women's Choice KSA Brand Rankings" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-03-23/yougov-brandindex-2018-womens-choice-brand-rankings-ksa.png" style="width: 660px; height: 592px;" /></p>
<p>Though Almarai ranks the highest for Impression among women on the whole, there are noteworthy differences when it comes to the Impression of the top 10 brands among different age groups.</p>
<p>Most notably, luxury electronics brand Apple, which sits in third place overall, actually takes the top spot for Impression among women aged 18-24. Meanwhile instant messaging giant WhatsApp, in second place in our top 10, proves most popular among women aged 25 - 34. As expected, Almarai leads positive Impression among those aged 35-44 and 45+ - its target audience among women.</p>
<p>Western Union is the Kingdom&rsquo;s highest improver where Saudi women are concerned with an uplift of 10.7 points for Impression. The global money transfer company launched a global empowerment campaign in 2017 to raise awareness and money for female education around the world for International Women&rsquo;s Day.</p>
<p><img alt="2018 Women's Choice KSA Brand Rankings Improvers" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/yougov-brandindex-2018-womens-choice-brand-rankings-improvers-ksa.png" style="width: 660px; height: 546px;" /></p>
<p>Naturally these improver scores differ between age groups. BrandIndex data shows Al Shallal Theme Park in Jeddah, the fifth most improved brand when it comes to Impression, has seen the biggest improvement among 18 - 24 year olds, while Facebook, in seventh, has risen most in popularity among women aged 25 - 34.</p>
<p><em>BrandIndex Impression scores are calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative responses for the brand from the percentage of positive responses.&nbsp;Scores range from -100 to 100.&nbsp;</em></p>
Multi-brand online-only stores most popular choice for half of UAE and KSA online shoppersAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/02/28/multi-brand-online-only-stores-are-most-popular-ec/
<p>Fresh research into attitudes and behaviour towards ecommerce in the UAE and Saudi Arabia has found that 51% of UAE consumers and 52% of KSA consumers say websites which have multiple categories and brands under them which are provided only online are where they do most of their online shopping.</p>
<p>The <a href="/find-solutions/custom-research/ecommerce-tracker-uae-ksa/">YouGov eCommerce Tracker</a>, a syndicated study of online consumer behaviour launched in 2017, interviews 2,000 consumers every 3 months in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The first set of results show retailer websites which have a physical presence in store and online are less popular, preferred by 32% of UAE online shoppers; 27% in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile single brand websites which have a physical in store and online presence are favored by just 18% and 17% of UAE and KSA consumers respectively.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/yougov-ecommerce-tracker-popular-types-ecommerce-websites-ksa-uae-.png" style="width: 660px; height: 376px;" /></p>
<p>The most popular products to buy are electronics, favoured by 89% and 88% of consumers in the UAE and KSA respectively - particularly males (90%). In the 3 months prior to when the study was conducted, mobile phones were the hottest electronic product flying through online check outs &ndash; according to 43% of consumers in the UAE, 32% in KSA.</p>
<p>The research found half of UAE respondents, (56% in KSA), cite the ease with which they can find products they are interested in as the main reason they shop online. Over a third, particularly those aged 35+ in the UAE and 35-39 in KSA, also like the fact that they can shop for anything from the comfort of their own home.</p>
<p>Interestingly however, despite craving an easy navigation path to their most favoured products, the study found a negative association with that need. 29% of UAE consumers, particularly Emiratis (41%), and 26% of consumers in Saudi Arabia claim the biggest turn off online shopping is the way it makes you shop impulsively.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/yougov-ecommerce-tracker-top-5-reasons-consumers-shop-online-ksa-uae.png" style="width: 660px; height: 375px;" /></p>
<p>Finding the right price point is a key factor in deciding to shop online with a quarter of respondents in both countries claiming they find better prices online than in store. Around one in five also find it is easier to compare prices and products across different brands. Price comparison is particularly important for those aged 40+.</p>
<p>When it comes to where people buy online, in the UAE the results illustrate there isn&rsquo;t a particular preference over whether a website is local (38%) or international (39%) with almost equal proportions choosing each, while 24% don&rsquo;t have a preference. By contrast, in Saudi Arabia, most consumers prefer international sites (44%), while 26% favour local sites and 30% don&rsquo;t mind. The study reveals offering product variety could engage more consumers in local sites - 29% of respondents in both countries respectively choose to buy from an international site because of the product variety.</p>
<p>Commenting on the findings, YouGov Head of Custom Research &ndash; MENA, Nehal Jibouri said, &ldquo;As one of the fastest growing ecommerce markets in the world, it&rsquo;s vital for businesses in the Middle East to stay shopper-ready to maintain pace. We&rsquo;ve designed the eCommerce Tracker to provide&nbsp;intelligence about consumers&#39; day-to-day online shopping&nbsp;preferences, aversions and&nbsp;limitations, both at an industry and brand specific level, so that businesses can listen, act and pre-empt customer needs. Our latest findings show variety and convenience are key to appeal to consumers in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia who want products quickly and at the right price point. However, finding the right balance of communication around products is important to ensure consumers aren&rsquo;t put off by being pushed to shop when they don&rsquo;t plan to.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Data from the custom </em><em><a href="/find-solutions/custom-research/ecommerce-tracker-uae-ksa/">YouGov eCommerce Tracker</a></em><em>, conducted among 1,005 consumers in the UAE and 1,010 consumers in Saudi Arabia, between 15 and 24 November 2017. Data is broadly representative of the adult online population in both countries.</em></p>
<p><strong>For more information about the YouGov eCommerce Tracker and to&nbsp;discuss these insights in further detail, please contact Nehal Jibouri, Head of Custom Research - MENA at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:%20nehal.jibouri@yougov.com" id="" target="_blank" title="Email Nehal Jibouri">nehal.jibouri@yougov.com</a>&nbsp;or call +971 4 369 4298.</strong></p>
2018 sees largest increase in consumer brand advocacy yet for UAE’s newest theme parks Antonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/02/27/2018-sees-largest-increase-consumer-brand-advocacy/
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>IMG Worlds of Adventure, LEGOLAND&reg; Dubai and MOTIONGATE&trade; biggest improvers &ndash; YouGov BrandIndex</i></p>
<p>According to new data released today by <a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">YouGov BrandIndex</a>, the UAE&rsquo;s newest theme parks are making their biggest impression yet on consumers in 2018. After closing their first complete year of operation in 2017 with a huge leap in consumer brand advocacy, ground-breaking theme parks IMG Worlds of Adventure, LEGOLAND&reg; Dubai and MOTIONGATE&trade; have all continued the trend to an even greater extent this year.</p>
<p>YouGov BrandIndex tracks brand advocacy using Recommend scores, which are calculated by asking consumers, &ldquo;Which of these brands would you recommend to a friend and which of these brands would you tell a friend to avoid?&rdquo; Between 1 December 2017 and 21 February 2018, the Middle East&rsquo;s only daily online brand tracker found that UAE consumers were increasingly likely to recommend the three brands to others.</p>
<p><img alt="" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/brandindex-recommend-scores-img-legolanddubai-motiongate2017-2018.png" style="width: 660px;" /></p>
<p>The brand with the biggest overall increase in brand advocacy is IMG Worlds of Adventure achieving a score of 17.4 on 13 February 2018, an impressive rise of 6.8 points in the past two months alone. The world&rsquo;s largest indoor theme park was also the top brand improver in the <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/uae/2017-buzz/category/theme-parks-and-water-parks">YouGov BrandIndex 2017 Best Brand Rankings</a>, increasing its Buzz score by 5.8 in the UAE Theme Parks and Water Parks category, ahead of LEGOLAND&reg; Dubai in second and MOTIONGATE&trade; in third.</p>
<p>The Best Brand Rankings are compiled using BrandIndex Buzz scores, which are calculated by asking consumers, &ldquo;If you&#39;ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?&rdquo;.</p>
<p>MOTIONGATE&trade;, the Middle East&rsquo;s largest Hollywood inspired theme park is also making giant strides in UAE consumer advocacy with its highest Recommend score on record of 13.8 achieved on 21 February 2018, up 5 points within the past two months.</p>
<p>Following suit, and the most recommended brand of the three, is LEGOLAND&reg; Dubai with its highest score to date of 19.9 recorded on 31 January 2018 rising 4.8 points since December 2017. The brand was also the fourth most positively perceived brand in the UAE Theme Parks and Water Parks category for 2017 in the <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/uae/2017-buzz/category/theme-parks-and-water-parks">YouGov BrandIndex Best Brand Rankings</a>.</p>
<p>Commenting on findings, Scott Booth, Head of Data Products &ndash; MENA said, &ldquo;The Recommend score in BrandIndex is a benchmark of consumer advocacy for brands, one of the most powerful marketing tools businesses can have. Dubai&rsquo;s leisure and adventure space is becoming second to none as big names continue to invest heavily to create an experience parents and children alike will never forget. These results demonstrate the continuous improvement all three parks are seeing in terms of advocacy and sentiment as they mature into hubs of leisure and entertainment for the market.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Buzz and Recommend are both net scores calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative responses for the brand from the percentage of positive responses for the brand.&nbsp; The scores range from -100 to 100. </em></p>
86% of UAE companies intend to hire in the next yearAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/02/19/middle-east-job-index-finds-86-uae-companies-inten/
<p><em>Good communication in Arabic and English, being a team player, and the ability to work under pressure are most-sought after skills for UAE employers in 2018</em></p>
<p>Fresh findings from the <a href="http://mena.yougov.com/en/about/partnerships/bayt/" title="Download the full report">Middle East&nbsp;Job Index </a>survey conducted by the Middle East&rsquo;s #1 job site, Bayt.com, and YouGov has found a positive outlook for the job market in the UAE in the short and longer term with 86% of companies intending to hire within the next year and three-quarters looking to recruit within the next three months.</p>
<p>The in-depth study, which tracks job availability and hiring trends in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market and provides an understanding of the required skills and qualifications in the region, also found that nearly four in five (79%) working respondents in the UAE say their company has hired new employees in the last 12 months.</p>
<p><strong>UAE job outlook for the next three months</strong></p>
<p>In the short term, for UAE companies looking to hire in the next three months, the study found that two thirds (67%) will be hiring for &lsquo;up to 20 jobs&rsquo;, while 14% say they will be hiring for &lsquo;up to 100 jobs&rsquo;. The greatest demand will be for &lsquo;junior executives&rsquo; (43%), &lsquo;managers&rsquo; (36%), &lsquo;coordinators&rsquo; and &lsquo;senior executives&rsquo; (both 30%), and &lsquo;executives&rsquo; (28%). The most common roles UAE companies are looking to fill in the short term are for &lsquo;sales executives&rsquo; (28%), &lsquo;accountants&rsquo; (26%), &lsquo;project managers&rsquo; (20%), &lsquo;sales managers&rsquo; (19%), and &lsquo;directors&rsquo; (18%).</p>
<p>Across the region, &lsquo;small/medium local companies&rsquo; in the private sector will be hiring most (76%). The research highlights the industries that are most likely to hire are: &lsquo;Consumer Goods/FMCG&rsquo; (81% are planning to hire), &lsquo;Real Estate/Construction/Property Development&rsquo; (80%), and &lsquo;Hospitality/Recreation/Entertainment&rsquo; (78%).</p>
<p><strong>MENA job outlook in the next 12 months</strong></p>
<p>In the long term, regionally, &lsquo;small/ medium local companies&rsquo; as well as &lsquo;multinational companies&rsquo; have the highest hiring potential, where 89% will be hiring in the next year. The top five industries with the strongest hiring plans are &lsquo;Business Consultancy/ Business Management&rsquo; (97%), &lsquo;Consumer Goods/ FMCG&rsquo; (95%), &lsquo;Hospitality/ Recreation/ Entertainment&rsquo; (94%), &lsquo;Banking/ Finance&rsquo; (93% are planning to hire), and &lsquo;Commerce/ Retail/ Trade&rsquo; (92%), all of which plan to hire within the next 12 months.</p>
<p><strong>Skills, roles, and academic qualifications in demand in the UAE</strong></p>
<p>The top skill in demand in the UAE this year is being a &lsquo;team player/cooperative/helpful/flexible&rsquo; &ndash; according to 49% of employers. Another highly sought-after skill is good &lsquo;communication skills in Arabic and English&rsquo; according to 48% of employers, followed by the &lsquo;ability to work under pressure&rsquo; and &lsquo;good leadership skills&rsquo; (both 45%).</p>
<p>Academic qualifications such as &lsquo;business management&rsquo; (29%), &lsquo;commerce&rsquo; (28%), and &lsquo;engineering (23%) emerged as the most desirable educational requirements amongst UAE employers in particular.</p>
<p>When considering the level and type of experience UAE employers are searching for, four in ten (40%) say they are particularly interested in &lsquo;mid-level experience between three and seven years&rsquo;, while more than a third (36%) seek experience in &lsquo;sales and marketing&rsquo;, and another third (32%) seek &lsquo;managerial&rsquo; experience. Meanwhile, just over a quarter (27%) are looking for candidates with &lsquo;senior level experience between 7 and 10 years&rsquo;, with another quarter (25%) looking for candidates with &lsquo;junior level experience of less than three years&rsquo;.</p>
<p>As for the most appealing industries in the UAE, the country&rsquo;s respondents believe the main industries attracting and retaining &lsquo;top talent&rsquo; are &lsquo;Real Estate, Construction, and Property Management&rsquo; (31%) and &lsquo;Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations&rsquo; (30%).</p>
<p>Interestingly, the study found that the &lsquo;Banking and Finance&rsquo; industry (34%) is believed to be the main industry attracting and retaining &lsquo;national talent&rsquo; and &lsquo;fresh graduates&rsquo;. Meanwhile, &lsquo;Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations&rsquo; (45%) is believed to be the main industry attracting &lsquo;top female talent&rsquo; in particular.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Middle East Job Index is a very critical indicator that shows the region&rsquo;s hiring activities. With an upward trend this year, the number of job openings in the UAE is forecasted to grow. It is also worth noting that with so many local SME&rsquo;s planning to hire this year, growth of this vital sector seems to be a priority in 2018,&rdquo; said Nehal Jibouri, Head of Custom Research, YouGov.</p>
<p><em>Data for the February 2018 Middle East Job Index Survey was collected online from 5<sup>th</sup> December 2017 to 28<sup>th</sup> January 2018. Results are based on a sample of 1,883 respondents, 1,641 of whom were of working status, from the following countries: UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, and Pakistan.</em></p>
<p>The Middle East Job Index Survey, published twice a year, is a reflective study on existing and potential job opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. For employers, the report provides information on the attractiveness of particular sectors, industries, and job locations. For job seekers, it is a useful depiction of the changes in job availability as well as a guide for hiring potential by area, country, sector, experience level, desired skills, and more.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/about/partnerships/bayt/">Download the full Job Index report &raquo;</a></strong></p>
Souq.com acquisition proves positive move for Amazon.comAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/02/05/souqcom-acquisition-proves-positive-move-amazoncom/
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Both brands receive highest increase in positive UAE consumer brand sentiment among retailers in 2017. Souq.com leaps in brand recommendation and reputation; Amazon.com makes lasting impression</em></p>
<p>Amazon.com has achieved the biggest improvement in positive consumer brand sentiment among UAE retailers, while newly acquired Souq.com debuts in the country&rsquo;s top five most positively perceived retail brands for 2017, according to the latest data from YouGov&rsquo;s daily brand tracker, <a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/find-solutions/brandindex/">BrandIndex</a>.</p>
<p>On 28 March 2017 leading Dubai-based online retail website Souq.com was acquired by Amazon.com in what was a significant move for the global online retailer not to mention the development of ecommerce in the Arab world - one of major appeal to UAE consumers, as demonstrated by BrandIndex.</p>
<p>Records for the past two years show positive consumer brand sentiment began to steadily increase for Souq.com in 2016, when it was also placed as the second highest brand Buzz improver for the year in the YouGov BrandIndex Best Brand Rankings. However, in 2017 its scores soared, particularly just after the acquisition was announced, giving it a debut appearance in fourth place among the top five retailers in the UAE overall in the <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/uae/2017-buzz">2017 Best Brand Rankings</a>.</p>
<p>BrandIndex uses Buzz scores to compile the rankings. Buzz is calculated by asking consumers daily if they have &lsquo;heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth&rsquo;. The rankings portray the top five brands with the highest average Buzz score, and the largest Buzz score improvement throughout the year.</p>
<p>Amazon.com also started to win more favour among consumers in 2016, sitting just behind Souq.com as the third most improved retailer for the year. However, Buzz scores for the giant online retailer also rose significantly last year, placing it just ahead of its acquisition for improvement in the 2017 Rankings.</p>
<p><img alt="Amazon.com and Souq.com Buzz scores 2016 - 2017" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/amazon.com-souq.com-buzz-scores-2016-2017-yougov-brandindex..png" style="width: 660px; height: 330px;" /></p>
<p>Since the deal, the UAE&rsquo;s flagship ecommerce platform has also upped its reputational stakes. To understand a brand&rsquo;s market reputation, throughout the year, BrandIndex also asks consumers &ldquo;Would you be proud or embarrassed to work for this brand?&rdquo;. In 2017 Souq.com increased its Reputation score, particularly in the second half of the year, reaching an all-time high in December when it announced the launch of &ldquo;Amazon Global Store&rdquo; bringing over a million global products to the UAE.</p>
<p>With Buzz and Reputation scores rising for the brand there&rsquo;s no surprise to see consumers more likely to recommend it to others too. Again, particularly in the second half of the year, when asked &ldquo;Would you recommend this brand to a friend, or tell them to avoid it?&rdquo;, more consumers chose to recommend Souq.com, securing its highest average Recommend score to date.</p>
<p><img alt="Souq.com Recommendation and Reputation scores 2017" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/souq.com-recommendation-reputation-scores-2017-yougov-brandindex..png" style="width: 660px; height: 309px;" /></p>
<p>The move has also given Amazon.com a lasting impression in the Emirates in recent months. BrandIndex recorded a statistically significant increase in the global brand&rsquo;s Impression score in 2017 by asking consumers daily &ldquo;Do you have a generally positive or negative feeling about this brand?&rdquo;.</p>
<p><img alt="Amazon.com Impression scores 2017" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/amazon.com-impression-scores-2017-yougov-brandindex..png" style="width: 660px; height: 309px;" /></p>
<p>Commenting on findings, Scott Booth, Head of Data Products &ndash; MENA said, &ldquo;The Buzz metric in BrandIndex illustrates the volume and direction of recent brand exposure in the UAE. Among retailers, the deal between Amazon.com and Souq.com was a tremendous move for ecommerce in the Middle East region and we&rsquo;re excited to see both brands sailing into 2018 with strong brand sentiment among UAE consumers. With Amazon.com also winning on impression, and consumers more willing to recommend Souq.com to friends it is clear the public recognises the synergy created by the acquisition and the potential impact of the brands&rsquo; collaboration in the market.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>BrandIndex Buzz, Recommend, Impression and Reputation are all net scores calculated by subtracting the percentage of negative responses for the brand from the percentage of positive response for the brand.&nbsp; The scores range from -100 to 100. Recommend, Impression and Reputation scores have been looked at on a 6 week moving average.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/find-solutions/brandindex/">More about YouGov BrandIndex &raquo;</a></p>
UAE optimistic for 2018 despite expecting VAT to be a challenge one month inAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/02/02/uae-optimistic-2018-despite-expecting-vat-be-chall/
<p>New YouGov <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/">Omnibus</a> research has found that despite expecting VAT to be a challenge in the UAE, residents are largely optimistic for the year to come.</p>
<p>In the first month after the introduction of Value Added Tax, YouGov surveyed over 1,000 UAE residents to understand their sentiment towards the country, and the immediate impact the new law is having on the community at large.</p>
<p>The results found that 50% of residents have positive sentiment towards the UAE in 2018, while 34% are neutral and 15% are negative. This positive attitude is prevalent despite the fact that 62% of residents feel the introduction of VAT will be a challenge for the country.</p>
<p>The study indicates residents are, for the most part, undecided over its impact on the economy. Whilst over a third of the population (38%) feel it will have a positive impact, 40% neither agree or disagree with the statement, while 22% disagree.</p>
<p>The results suggest this perception, in part, is born out of the levels of increased expenditure expected, with 44% of residents claiming their spending will increase significantly as a result of the tax, and the same proportion (44%) feel it will reduce their disposable income.</p>
<p>To that end, the majority of residents (46%) believe people will expect a relative pay rise to compensate for their increase in expenditure as a result of VAT.</p>
<p>Generally, over half of residents expect to spend more money in 2018, with most claiming they&rsquo;ll need to find the most extra cash for utility bills and their daily commute/fuel (both 49%) and groceries (48%).</p>
<p>Whilst they are more certain of the impact of VAT on their personal expenditure, residents are less sure about the impact of the tax on financial dealings among companies. When asked if they think the new law will regularize bank lending to SMEs, the largest majority, (55%) neither agree or disagree with the statement, whilst 28% agree it will and 17% disagree.</p>
<p>Slightly more believe the law will bring transparency to company accounts and financial dealings (39%), however, most are still unsure (42%), whilst 19% disagree with the statement.</p>
<p>When asked about the impact of VAT on visitors to the country, 35% of residents say it will discourage tourists, yet the largest proportion are unsure 37% and 28% say it won&rsquo;t.&nbsp; However, a little more believe it is more likely to discourage expats (42%), while 38% don&rsquo;t know and 21% say it won&rsquo;t.</p>
<p>Interestingly, when it comes to handling VAT in everyday life, 45% of residents believe the need for low denomination change will complicate simple cash transactions for consumers.</p>
<p>The tax has also got residents thinking about what else is next. Over half (54%) said the introduction of the new law has made them question whether income tax will be enforced in the UAE in the future.</p>
<p>Commenting on the findings, Head of Omnibus Research, Kerry McLaren said, &ldquo;As the UAE is getting to grips with VAT, this research reveals a community still largely uncertain of its future impact. It&rsquo;s clear there are reservations over the scale of increased expenditure and the impression the law will have on outsiders, but the results don&rsquo;t conclude a trend in favor or against it. The fact that sentiment for 2018 is largely positive shows the country to be in a solid position, with a community yet to reserve strong judgement on VAT as we start the new year.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>Data collected by <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/">YouGov Omnibus</a> between 18 &ndash; 24 January 2018 among 1,022 residents in the UAE. Data is broadly representative of the urban online population in the UAE.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/find-solutions/omnibus/"><strong>More about YouGov Omnibus &raquo;</strong></a></p>
84% of UAE professionals want to be challenged at workAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/01/30/84-uae-professionals-want-be-challenged-work/
<p>Nowadays, what makes a company or an organization an ideal place to work for in the UAE depends on many different elements that may extend beyond salary and benefits. In partnership with YouGov, Bayt.com, the region&rsquo;s leading job site, explored this topic with a new study entitled &ldquo;The Ideal Workplace in the Middle East and North Africa&rdquo;. According to the findings, being challenged at work is ranked as the top job attribute that UAE professionals desire.</p>
<p><strong>What matters most to UAE professionals </strong></p>
<p>In addition to seeking a challenging work environment, the adoption of advanced technology in the workplace is of great importance, according to 83% of UAE respondents. While only 46% of companies reportedly promote the use of advanced technology to a large extent, this factor is also of great importance for job seekers. In fact, 87% of job seekers say that their potential company should use advanced technology.</p>
<p>Work-life balance comes in third place for UAE employees. 82% of respondents believe that this is an important factor in any work environment, just ahead of fair evaluations, and innovation (81%). However, this is not the same from the perspective of job seekers. According to 82% of job seekers in the UAE, innovation is the second most important factor in a potential company. That said, only 37% of respondents agree that their workplaces currently promote innovation to a large extent.</p>
<p>Other elements that were considered important in a workplace include fair evaluation systems (81% of employees say it is important), transparency in communication (79% of employees say it is important), and team building and fun activities (76% of employees say it is important).</p>
<p>Besides attractiveness, retention is an element that many organizations strive to master. When asked about factors that mostly drive loyalty, the top responses were &lsquo;opportunities for long-term career advancement&rsquo; (according to 37% of UAE respondents), and &lsquo;training and development opportunities&rsquo; (34%).&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Business values and culture</strong></p>
<p>In addition to workplace attraction and retention elements, respondents were asked about company culture and its impact when choosing a workplace. Over half (51%) of UAE respondents said company culture is &lsquo;one of the determining factors when joining a company&rsquo;, 39% said &lsquo;it is important but not a determining factor&rsquo;, only 4% said &lsquo;they don&rsquo;t pay attention to company culture&rsquo;, while the remainder (7%) didn&rsquo;t provide an answer.</p>
<p>When asked about business values that make a company more attractive in the UAE, 52% cited &lsquo;good ethics and practices&rsquo;, 42% said &lsquo;friendly company culture&rsquo;, 24% said &lsquo;corporate social responsibility&rsquo;, and 10% said &lsquo;green consciousness / efforts&rsquo;, indicating that UAE professionals are wary of the various elements that make up a company&rsquo;s mission and impact on society.</p>
<p><strong>Physical attributes&nbsp; </strong></p>
<p>The study shows physical elements play a significant role when choosing a workplace as well. In the UAE, there seems to be a higher preference for larger companies, as 64% of respondents feel that an ideal company size has more than 50 employees.</p>
<p>When it comes to office layout, opinions vary. 23% of UAE professionals prefer an &lsquo;open plan&rsquo; layout, 22% prefer &lsquo;closed rooms&rsquo;, 17% prefer &lsquo;workstations&rsquo;, 14% prefer &lsquo;cubicles&rsquo;, while 19% have &lsquo;no preference&rsquo;.</p>
<p>56% of UAE respondents said that the interior design of their offices &lsquo;reflects the company&rsquo;s brand and values&rsquo;. 24% disagreed with this statement, while 20% were unsure. Furthermore, the majority of respondents in the UAE (79%) said they are allowed to personalize their workplace, at least to some extent.</p>
<p><strong>Finding the perfect workplace</strong></p>
<p>In order to pick the ideal workplace, professionals in the region need to access information on all the different attributes they value. When asked how easy it is to access information about company culture and work environment, the responses varied. 21% of UAE respondents said it is &lsquo;very easy&rsquo;, 30% said it is &lsquo;somewhat easy&rsquo;, 27% said it is &lsquo;neither easy nor difficult&rsquo;, 11% said it is &lsquo;somewhat difficult&rsquo;, and 5% said it is &lsquo;very difficult&rsquo;.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>To understand this issue further, respondents were asked about the most useful company information and the most effective ways to promote that information to job seekers. &lsquo;Online company pages targeting job seekers&rsquo; was voted the most effective method of communicating information. With regards to the type of information job seekers want to learn about the most, 55% of UAE respondents said &lsquo;company benefits and perks&rsquo;, 38% said &lsquo;employee testimonials and reviews&rsquo;, 22% said &lsquo;awards and milestones&rsquo;, 17% said &lsquo;company events and socials&rsquo;, and 7% said &lsquo;photos and videos of the workplace&rsquo;.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The ideal workplace survey is designed to show employers what they need to do to secure the loyalty of their employees and attract the best talent to grow a happy and successful workforce for the future. By listening to the very people who sustain their company, organizations can evolve in tune with the times and offer the best opportunities possible for driven and motivated teams who ultimately want to see the long term prosperity of their company, region-wide and beyond.&rdquo; said Anjali Chhabra, Associate Research Director, YouGov.</p>
<p><em>Data for the 2017 Bayt.com &ldquo;Ideal Workplace in the Middle East and North Africa&rdquo; poll was collected online from December 6 to 22, 2017. Results are based on a sample of 4,418 respondents. Respondents come from many countries, including the UAE, Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Qatar and KSA. </em></p>
Don’t just collect data. Connect data.Stephan Shakespearestephan.shakespeare@yougov.com/en/people/stephan.shakespeare/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/01/29/dont-just-collect-data-connect-data-shakespeare/
<p><em>With a purely digital research solution in the MENA region, YouGov&#39;s CEO &ndash; Stephan Shakespeare unveils the reasons why online research is leading the transformation of market research in the Arab world.</em></p>
<p>Today 173 million people are connected online in the Arab world, and by 2021, just 3 years from now, it is projected that 47 million new internet users, 45 million new mobile broadband users and 160 million new social media users will come online in the region*. It is no longer a case of if but when the Middle East and North Africa will be a fully digital-lead economy.</p>
<p>Despite generational divides, a critical mass of people in the Arab region are embracing the internet in every aspect of life. The adoption of big-data-driven approaches by businesses large and small shows they are very aware of the power of data to drive the region&rsquo;s future growth, happiness and superiority.</p>
<p>Driven by the technological vision of its Government and Smart Dubai initiative, last year the UAE was ranked the most digitally advanced country in the Arab world**. Businesses are tapping into the rapidly evolving local taste for technology across the region; digital start-ups are on the rise, inspired in part by global heavyweights such as Amazon, Google, Facebook and LinkedIn who are investing heavily in the Arab world.</p>
<p>Over the past 17 years since I formed YouGov in 2000, which was eight years after the first ever website went online, I have watched the digital revolution expand to take in almost every aspect of human life. The research community was initially sceptical of online research being able to deliver representative data but YouGov in the UK proved that wrong, consistently outperforming traditional polling methods to predict election outcomes more accurately. We applied our statistical modelling approach to market research, which is now 95% of YouGov&rsquo;s work, and brought new data products to the market like <a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/find-solutions/brandindex/">BrandIndex</a>, which utilises the efficiency of online data collection. It is fitting that this region, the ancient home of mathematics, should now be a big part of developing new statistical methods, and some of our work in the region is amongst our most ambitious.</p>
<p>The key today is going beyond running the same traditional surveys one used to run with a clipboard and instead do the same online - market research today needs to embrace the data-rich possibilities of new online methodologies to collect a much wider range of information from people one can talk to again and again. Just collecting isn&rsquo;t enough, we need to connect data. That way we can see the whole person, in terms of their consumer behaviours, social attitudes, media usage and whatever else one needs.</p>
<p>Once you&rsquo;ve engaged an audience, and got them to take part in continuous research as part of a panel, new possibilities open up. New data builds on existing data to reveal more richness for analysis. Today, when clients approach us, the question is not who can we reach to collect this information, but what information do we already have? What do we need to add so that we can answer clients&rsquo; needs with all the data we have already collected? It&rsquo;s more efficient and yields deeper insights. With each and every survey that is completed, a more granular profile of people&rsquo;s personalities and behaviour can be captured, and cutting edge analytical tools can be applied to that much larger, structured data set than was ever possible with conventional single surveys. It provides an instantly available connected data resource for audience profiling and segmentation which ultimately enables businesses to find and engage the best audience to help them reach their goal.</p>
<p>That&rsquo;s an invaluable starting point from which to address research needs without even sending out a single survey. It offers, in many cases, insights from questions or ideas that companies never thought to ask their customers in the first place. At YouGov, we&rsquo;re confident that 80% of the answers our customers look for are already available via our connected data set, while the other 20% can be discovered using our custom data solutions.</p>
<p>Starting your research from a richer data standpoint also allows you to significantly reduce survey completion time versus a traditional survey approach. Delivering a much more streamlined, higher quality survey to the end consumer also ultimately leads to a better response rate.</p>
<p>The connected data that digital research affords also opens up much more sophisticated means to inform your marketing or advertising strategy from <em>end to end</em>. It allows researchers to provide solutions that better help businesses understand and target key consumer segments, track the effectiveness of advertising, marketing and public relations strategies and campaigns, and measure perception <em>on a continuous basis</em> to produce even stronger campaigns next time.</p>
<p>It also facilitates collaboration among brands, media owners and agencies to help bring transparency and understanding to a challenging marketing and media landscape, not to mention help brands grow. The digital research age is here to stay, but if you want to get on the cutting edge of market research, don&rsquo;t just go online, go beyond. Tap into a digital data ecosystem where the whole becomes far greater than the sum of its parts.</p>
<p><em>This article originally appeared in Campaign Middle East Magazine.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://mena.yougov.com/en/find-solutions/"><strong>Discover more about&nbsp;YouGov&#39;s digital research services in MENA &raquo;</strong></a></p>
<p><em style="font-size:9px">* The Arab World Online 2017: Digital Transformations and Societal Trends in the Age of the 4th Industrial Revolution - Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government<br />
**World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017 Digital Evolution Index</em></p>
Emirates, Almarai and Facebook are most positively perceived brands in MENA three years runningAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/01/17/emirates-almarai-and-facebook-are-most-positively-/
<p align="center"><em>2017 sees digital brands dominate positive consumer brand sentiment more than ever before</em></p>
<p>The latest Best Brand Rankings released by YouGov BrandIndex have recorded home-grown mega brands Emirates and Almarai, and global social media behemoth Facebook as the most positively perceived brands in 2017 among consumers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt respectively. What&rsquo;s more these brands have all now dominated their respective markets for the past three years consecutively.&nbsp;</p>
<p>YouGov used Buzz scores to compile the rankings using the only daily brand tracker in the region, <a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">YouGov BrandIndex</a>. Buzz is calculated by asking consumers daily if they have &lsquo;heard anything positive or negative about a brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth&rsquo;. The rankings portray the 10 brands with the highest average Buzz score, and the largest Buzz score improvement over the past 12 months.</p>
<p>As a leading region in the adoption of digital technologies, consumers demonstrate considerable resonance with leading tech brands in all three countries in 2017, in the UAE in particular, the largest number of digital brands feature, occupying eight of the top 10 spots, in KSA it&rsquo;s seven and Egypt it&rsquo;s five. Leading the digital takeover is WhatsApp, which sits in second place in all three countries highlighting the huge popularity of the instant messaging phenomenon in the Arab world.</p>
<p>iPhone has seen the biggest score improvement in the UAE and KSA in particular. The iPhone X certainly made its mark on consumers last year who propelled the premium smartphone brand up five spots in the UAE, and two spots in Saudi Arabia, while in Egypt it maintained fifth place. Meanwhile Samsung Galaxy also takes a Best Brand top 10 spot, but a little behind its rival re-entering the KSA rankings in ninth, while in the UAE it sits in tenth.</p>
<p>The rankings demonstrate consumers&rsquo; increasing positive affinity with social media brands in the region with YouTube ranking in all three countries, most highly in Egypt. Following suit, Google also makes a top 10 appearance in all countries, while Facebook is making waves in Egypt and the UAE in particular.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img alt="Top 10 Buzz scores for brands in the UAE, KSA and Egypt" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-01-16/article_chart.png" style="width: 670px; height: 226px;" /></p>
<p>Despite the increased prominence of digital brands, food and beverage and FMCG brands are elbowing their way to Best Brand status, cutting through the noise to resonate the most positively with consumers on a daily basis in the region. Al Baik continues to hold strong in Saudi Arabia, fluctuating between fourth and fifth place for the past six years in the Kingdom. Luxurious confectionary brand Galaxy is also creating positive chatter in Egypt, while Ariel and Dettol make their top Buzz debut in the Egypt and Saudi Arabia top 10 respectively.</p>
<p>Multinational hypermarket chain Carrefour demonstrates its strength in the UAE market as the only other non-digital brand consuming the country&rsquo;s top 10 aside from Emirates. In Egypt, household names The National Bank of Egypt, real estate giant Memaar El Morshedy and top food producer El Rashidi El Mizan also lead positive brand sentiment.</p>
<p><strong>View the full 2017 Best Brand rankings in the <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/uae/2017-buzz?utm_medium=Media&amp;utm_source=Press%20Release&amp;utm_campaign=MENA_2018_01_BestBrandRankings_UAE">UAE</a>, <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/saudi-arabia/2017-buzz?utm_medium=Media&amp;utm_source=Press%20Release&amp;utm_campaign=MENA_2018_01_BestBrandRankings_KSA">Saudi Arabia </a>and <a href="http://www.brandindex.com/ranking/egypt/2017-buzz?utm_medium=Media&amp;utm_source=Press Release&amp;utm_campaign=MENA_2018_01_BestBrandRankings_EG">Egypt</a> &raquo;</strong></p>
<p><strong>Discover your place in the 2017 Best Brand Rankings, contact </strong><a href="mailto:scott.booth@yougov.com"><strong>Scott Booth</strong></a><strong> for more details.</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">More about BrandIndex&nbsp;&raquo;</a></strong></p>
<p><em>BrandIndex Buzz is measured by asking respondents daily if they have &#39;heard anything positive or negative about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word-of-mouth&#39;. Respondents are interviewed from YouGov&rsquo;s online panel.</em></p>
<p><em>Buzz scores are based on a two week rolling average ranging from 100 to -100, and are compiled by subtracting negative feedback from positive. A zero score means equal positive and negative feedback. They measure recent brand sentiment and indicate the level and direction of recent awareness (positive or negative) about a brand.</em></p>
<p><em>The Buzz Rankings show the brands with the highest average Buzz scores between January and December 2017. All Buzz scores have been rounded to a single decimal place. YouGov BrandIndex operates globally covering markets in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia.&nbsp;</em></p>
Mobile survey participation rises to 61% as YouGov offers purely digital research service in MENAAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/01/16/mobile-survey-participation-61-yougov-digital-rese/
<p>YouGov has made its research operations purely digital in the Middle East and&nbsp;North Africa making it the only leading global market research company to provide an online-only research service in the region .</p>
<p>The decision falls in line with the company&rsquo;s core global vision of being the leader in online research and data analytics all over the world, an ambition lead by its Founder and CEO, Stephan Shakespeare.</p>
<p>Since launching in the Middle East and North Africa 12 years ago YouGov has built an online panel of consumers who participate in online surveys across 21 markets. Between August 2016 and July 2017 those members completed over 3.4 million YouGov surveys online, compared to 670,000 just four years before, a testament to the phenomenal growth of the digital landscape in the Arab world.</p>
<p>Most exciting of all is the change in how people are choosing to participate in market research. Today, in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, more than 75% of the country&rsquo;s population now has a smartphone*. In May 2017 for the first time on the YouGov panel in MENA countries, mobile survey participation overtook desktop participation with 51% of YouGov panelists taking part in surveys on their mobile device compared to 49% on their desktop. Since then, mobile survey completion has continued to rise peaking at 61% in January 2018, while desktop participation declined to 39%.</p>
<p>For YouGov, fundamentally this evidence makes online research the most efficient and effective means by which businesses can connect with consumers and discover the deep dive insights they need in the MENA region. To that end, the company has invested heavily in its suite of online data products and custom services to provide insights faster, but with the same high level of accuracy expected by its clients.</p>
<p>Sundip Chahal, COO of YouGov commented, &ldquo;Over the past 12 years we have seen online survey participation rates in MENA soar, and this continuous conversation with consumers has enabled us to build a powerful and robust data set, profiled across thousands of important attitudinal and lifestyle attributes, which we use to address individual client needs.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;We should always use the most efficient means to connect companies, the media and consumers &ndash; it&rsquo;s now digital across the region and we&rsquo;re delighted &ndash; no one else comes close to matching our experience in the region. Our panelists are telling us they want to participate digitally &ndash; so that is how we will focus our operations to best support our clients in the region.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For YouGov, it is the &lsquo;effective dialogue&rsquo; that online research brings that makes them stand apart from their competitors in the region. Commenting on the digital move, YouGov CEO and Founder Stephan Shakespeare said, &ldquo;Every single day, with each and every survey YouGov panelists complete, they are voluntarily building a richer profile of their personality and behaviour. Couple that continuous conversation with highly sophisticated data analytics and sampling tools from our research experts in Dubai, and you see the enormous potential digital market research can bring to the future of businesses across the Arab world.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong><em>Source:</em></strong>&nbsp;*<em>2017 Global Mobile Market Report - Newzoo</em></p>
Rise of streaming services sees radio and CDs suffer while broadcast TV stands strongAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2018/01/08/rise-streaming-services-sees-radio-and-cds-suffer-/
<p align="center"><em>Online streaming and live TV consumption increases &nbsp;by nearly a third respectively in the UAE and KSA compared to 12 months ago</em></p>
<p>The rise of online streaming services has revolutionized the media industry. Faced with an eclectic mix of media providers, consumers have the power to unlock thousands of TV shows, films and/or music in seconds. The success of such companies has surprised many in the scope of both their popularity and their profit. Netflix, a pioneer of the TV and film streaming industry, is approaching <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/">110 million</a> subscribers worldwide. Online music streaming service Spotify is now worth more than the entire US music industry, with an estimated value of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/is-spotify-worth-more-than-the-entire-music-industry-10195439.html">$8.4 billion</a>.</p>
<p><strong>29% of consumers have steamed more music online in the past year</strong></p>
<p>New research from <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/">YouGov Omnibus</a> shows just how rapidly media trends are shifting in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. In the past 12 months 29% of consumers across both countries say they have increased the frequency with which they listen to music using online streaming services. This trend is strongest in the UAE, where the figure rises to 35%. By contrast, just 24% of UAE consumers don&rsquo;t listen to music using online streaming as much as they used to. The net increase (+11) shows the strong growth of online music streaming services in the Emirates in the past year alone.</p>
<p><img alt="Changing station - how have your entertainment preferences changed compared to 12 months ago?" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2018-01-08/changing-station.png" style="width: 625px; height: 350px;" /></p>
<p>Other means of listening to music have suffered as a result. A third of consumers in Saudi Arabia claim to listen to the radio less than they did 12 months ago, while in the UAE 28% have tuned in less. However, CDs have seen the biggest plunge in popularity; 35% of consumers in both countries have played CDs less in the past year.</p>
<p>Overall, a third (34%) of online consumers across both countries have subscribed to a music streaming service at some point. Of those who have previously subscribed to such a service, half (52%) still have a subscription. Interestingly, the study shows once customers change digital music service providers, it&rsquo;s hard to entice them back. When propositioned with better sound quality, respondents claim they are more likely to stick with and pay more with their current provider (79%), whereas fewer (64%) would return to and pay more with their previous provider.</p>
<p><strong>Three in ten consumers say they stream video content more than they did a year ago</strong></p>
<p>Much like music, consumers are also increasingly using subscription services to watch video content. As many as three in ten (29%) across both countries say they watch video content on platforms that do not require payment and/or a subscription, while a quarter (26%) pay to watch video content via streaming services more than they did a year ago. Yet broadcast TV remains popular; nearly a third of consumers across both countries (30%) say they watch more live TV more than they did twelve months ago.</p>
<p>Commenting on the findings Head of Omnibus Research, Kerry McLaren, said, &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no question this survey shows online steaming is an exciting industry to be in right now in the middle east region. In particular, UAE consumers are favouring such services more and more over traditional means, and are prepared to pay for the privilege. While it looks like radio providers will need to diversify to maintain consumer engagement in future, traditional live TV is striking the right balance and shows no signs of slowing when it comes to consumer entertainment preferences.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Data collected online by&nbsp;</em><a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/"><em>YouGov Omnibus</em></a><em>&nbsp;among 1,002 respondents in Saudi Arabia and 1,114 respondents in the UAE between 14 and 21 December 2017 using YouGov&rsquo;s panel of over 5 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult online population in both countries.</em></p>
UAE among top countries for female workplace equality in MENAAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/12/18/uae-among-top-countries-female-workplace-equality-/
<p>With every passing year, workplace equality becomes a higher priority for organizations around the world &ndash; and those in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are no exception.</p>
<p>According to the &lsquo;<a href="/about/partnerships/bayt">Working Women in the Middle East and North Africa</a>&rsquo; survey by YouGov and Bayt.com, the Middle East&rsquo;s number one job site,&nbsp;over three in four women in the UAE believe that job offers are based entirely on experience and qualifications, regardless of gender. This figure surpasses the regional average and places the UAE as the number one country when it comes to how easy it is for female job seeks to find work.</p>
<p>The online survey, among over 4,000 women in MENA, sought to explore the status of working women in the region by analyzing their perceptions when it comes to equality at work and looking into their motivations for employment, their challenges faced at work, as well as career and life ambitions. When asked about workplace equality, the survey revealed that more than 8 in 10 respondents believe that women in the UAE have reached the same level of workplace equality as women in western countries.</p>
<p><strong>Spotlight on the UAE: Workplace Equality</strong></p>
<p>Women in the UAE seem to be more content with gender balance in the workplace when compared with women in other MENA countries. Regionally, three quarters (75%) of respondents say that there is a mix of men and women working in the same workplace. In the UAE, this figure is almost 10 percent higher than the regional average at 84%. What&rsquo;s more, a large majority (73%) of women in the UAE say they are comfortable working in a mixed gender environment, with more than half (54%) claiming to be extremely comfortable. 23% are neutral on the subject, while only 3% said they are uncomfortable.</p>
<p>While three-quarters (74%) of respondents working in a mixed-gender environment report having a male manager at their current organization, nearly the same proportion (73%) have no gender-based preference for a manager.</p>
<p>In the UAE, seven in ten (70%) respondents report that they work almost an equal number of hours as their male colleagues, 6% believe they work less hours than their male counterparts, and only 16% said they work more hours. 8% didn&rsquo;t provide an answer.</p>
<p>As for female-specific benefits in the workplace, the top five benefits MENA female respondents receive from their organizations are personal health insurance (47%), paid maternity leave (40%), company transport/transport allowance (34%), job-related training (32%), and family health insurance (23%). Regionally, more than two thirds (69%) of women say their organization gives them at least one month of official maternity leave. 5% said their maternity leave is less than one month and only 9% said they don&rsquo;t have an official policy maternity leave. 19% of respondents did not know what the policy is.</p>
<p>With regard to labor laws in their country of residence, almost all (89%) respondents in the UAE stated they have at least some familiarity with the labor laws in their country, with two fifths (37%) claiming to be very familiar. Of those who are familiar with the labor laws in the UAE, about three quarters (77%) stated that they are fair to women, at least to some extent. Only 8% think they are not fair while 15% did not provide an answer.</p>
<p><strong>Challenges for Working Women in MENA</strong></p>
<p>The top three challenges cited by MENA women in their workplace are less opportunity for job promotions (44%), a stressful and demanding work environment (37%), and lack of or insufficient job training and coaching (30%).</p>
<p>Outside of the workplace, when asked about the key challenges in their life, finding good job opportunities (57%), lack of opportunities to improve their professional skills (41%), and not having enough opportunities to relax or socialize (36%) emerged as top three challenges for women in MENA.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, a majority of female respondents believe men and women are treated equally in the workplace across a variety of areas, including working hours (68%), training and development (68%), advice and support (60%), recruitment and selection (56%) and benefits (55%).</p>
<p><strong>Career Outlook for Women in MENA</strong></p>
<p>Women&rsquo;s happiness in the region is largely career-oriented, with having a successful career (49%) emerging as the top driver of happiness. This was followed by good health (42%), traveling and visiting other countries (36%), spending time with their families (34%), and making money (29%).</p>
<p>Moreover, women in MENA cite financial independence (59%), the ability to support/financially contribute to their households (50%), the opportunity to broaden their perspectives on life (46%), making use of their education (42%), and securing their family and children&rsquo;s futures (40%) as their top five reasons for seeking employment.</p>
<p>At the same time, women around the world understand the importance of finding balance between their responsibilities at home and at work. In MENA, more than half (54%) of respondents with children stated that their decision to have children has affected their career, at least to some extent, while 41% said it didn&rsquo;t affect it at all.</p>
<p>Further, over half (52%) of those surveyed believe their future marriage plans would affect their career choices, at least to some extent, while 29% said it wouldn&rsquo;t affect it at all and 19% didn&rsquo;t know. However, the majority of female respondents who are married indicated that their career choices had created either a positive effect (36%) or no effect (34%) on their marital life.</p>
<p>&ldquo;As the world progresses to bring gender equality to the workplace on a greater scale, perceptions and opinions like those found in this survey provide valuable insight into what is working well and where organizations may need to improve. This survey seeks to better inform organizations in the MENA region and around the world on how they can facilitate workplace equality for their employees &ndash; and particularly those that balance their careers with a family and other personal responsibilities,&rdquo; said Anjali Chhabra, YouGov Associate Research Director.</p>
<p><em>Data for the &lsquo;<a href="/about/partnerships/bayt">Working Women in the Middle East and North Africa</a>&rsquo; survey was collected online from October 26 to November 26, 2017, among 4,053 female respondents living in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and the UAE.</em></p>
20-Country study finds personality is more important than good looks in a romantic partnerAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/12/05/20-country-study-finds-personality-more-important-/
<p align="center"><em>Men and women in Egypt and Saudi Arabia&nbsp;have biggest difference in opinion on the subject</em></p>
<p>A new international YouGov study into the characteristics people most prefer in a romantic partner has found that personality is most likely to be favoured over good looks worldwide.</p>
<p>The <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/">YouGov Omnibus study</a>, which surveyed YouGov panellists online across 20 different countries, asked respondents - when considering what they look for in a romantic partner - would they rank personality more important than good looks or good looks more important than personality?&nbsp;</p>
<p>The verdict worldwide was unanimous among women in particular with the majority of females ranking personality higher than good looks in every country. Among men however, Vietnam was the only country where good looks are considered to outshine personality in particular with 46% of Vietnamese men ranking personality as important.</p>
<p>Women in Nordic countries were the most likely choose personality over good looks globally, compared to those in Asian countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand who were the least likely to agree.</p>
<p><img alt="Across the world women are more likely than men to value personality over looks" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-12-05/Looks vs personality global BOTH-01.png" style="width: 660px; height: 863px;" /></p>
<p>The study found that the biggest differences in opinion between the world&rsquo;s men and women on the topic were in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. 55% of Egyptian men rank personality more important than looks compared to 83% of women, while 52% of Saudi men rank personality higher than looks compared to 79% of women. &nbsp;In the UAE, 76% of women ranked personality higher than good looks, compared to 47% of men.</p>
<p>The study also asked respondents to prioritise the importance of six different attributes in a romantic partner according to their personal preferences.</p>
<p>As expected, having &lsquo;a personality I like&rsquo; was the most imperative attribute, prioritised in first or second place by the majority of men and women, and favoured the most by women in all three counties. However, that is where the similarities end between the two genders.</p>
<p>For men in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt the top three characteristics they look for the most in a romantic partner doesn&rsquo;t change. Behind personality, good looks and intelligence are the next most highly prioritised attributes respectively among male respondents across the board.</p>
<p>However, the results show women are more particular and their preferences change between the three countries. After personality, in the UAE a sense of humour is the next most important characteristic to look for in a romantic partner, followed by intelligence. Egyptian women favour intelligence the most, with similar interests ranked third. For Saudi women it is the reverse, they prioritise similar interests the most, followed by intelligence.</p>
<p align="center"><img alt="What do Middle East women prioritize in a romantic partner?" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-12-05/yougov-data-middle-east-women-top3-priorities.png" style="width: 660px; height: 585px;" /></p>
<p align="center"><img alt="What do Middle East men prioritize in a romantic partner?" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-12-05/yougov-data-middle-east-men-top3-priorities.png" style="width: 660px; height: 585px;" /></p>
<p><em>All of the surveys were conducted online by <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/">YouGov Omnibus</a>, and in many of the countries the internet penetration is low to the point where the sample can only be said to be representative of the online population. The countries where the online population is lower than 60% of the total are Egypt, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Vietnam.</em></p>
<p><em>Data was collected among 1,002 residents in the UAE and Egypt respectively and 1,000 residents in Saudi Arabia between 2 &ndash; 16 August 2017. Data is broadly representative of the adult online population in all three countries.</em></p>
<p><a href="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/r/8/YouGov%20global%20partner%20preferences.pdf"><em>View complete data tables &raquo;</em></a></p>
72% of UAE residents plan something extraordinary this UAE National DayAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/11/28/72-uae-residents-plan-something-extra-ordinary-uae/
<p align="center"><strong><em>Social media and roadside banner advertising grab most attention around the celebratory weekend</em></strong></p>
<p>In the lead up to their nation&rsquo;s 46<sup>th</sup> National Day, UAE residents claim they plan to do something extraordinary to mark the occasion.</p>
<p>The research conducted by <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/express">YouGov Omnibus Express</a> in the past four days found that 89% of the population will be celebrating in the UAE, with 34% visiting another Emirate for the long weekend.</p>
<p>Residents show their great anticipation for the famous UAE fireworks with the highest proportion (57%) of respondents intending to watch them this weekend overall. The second most popular activity will be raising the UAE flag (39%), followed by hosting a get together with friends and family (35%). UAE Nationals in particular, understandably will be focusing their celebrations on raising the UAE flag (58%) and hosting a get together with friends and family (47%)</p>
<p>A third of residents overall will be hitting the shops, of whom the highest proportion will be Emiratis (40%), whilst 30% will attend cultural celebrations. A quarter respectively will be dressing up or joining a rally or parade.</p>
<p>Being able to celebrate the birth of their country is very important to the vast majority of UAE residents with 78% agreeing so, whilst 90% claim it is also very important for other nations to do the same. The strongest association with the celebration according to respondents is Patriotism (26%), followed by Unity (25%) and Love (14%).</p>
<p>When it comes to planning for the big day, UAE residents reveal their spontaneity with 32% choosing not to plan at all for the event, whist 33% plan less than a month in advance. Taking advantage of the long weekend with a little extra time off work is appealing for 38% of respondents overall, particularly Emiratis (50%), while 42% of the population prefer to work full time in the lead up to and post the occasion; 20% don&rsquo;t know.</p>
<p>Three-quarters of respondents notice&nbsp;increased advertising around&nbsp; the UAE National Day weekend, and what&rsquo;s more 68% of the population welcome it, whilst a third always look out for offers. Just 11% claim to be indifferent to the advertising, and 5% are annoyed by it.</p>
<p>In particular, 63% of respondents overall claim to notice increased advertising on social media the most, whilst 59% see more adverts on roadside banners.&nbsp; Meanwhile 46% have tuned into increased advertising on television, 45% in store and 42% on websites. Interestingly when looking at advertising observations by nationality, Arab Expats notice the most advertising on roadside banners (64%), while Emiratis notice&nbsp;it more on television (75%).</p>
<p><img alt="Which advertising mediums are turning heads?" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-11-28/which-advertising-mediums-are-turning-heads.png" style="width: 660px; height: 369px;" /></p>
<p><em>Data collected by <a href="/find-solutions/omnibus/express">YouGov Omnibus Express</a> between 23 and 27 November 2017 among 501 UAE residents. Data is broadly representative of the adult online population in the UAE.</em></p>
78% of UAE&#39;s employed are thinking of starting their own business or have already attempted to do soAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/11/22/78-uaes-employed-are-thinking-starting-their-own-b/
<p align="center"><em>Two thirds of the MENA region&rsquo;s entrepreneurs are planning to hire for their businesses within the next year</em></p>
<p>The UAE is making a conscious effort to promote and support small and medium-sized enterprises as they are believed to be one of the main drivers for innovation and employment. A new survey conducted by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, entitled &lsquo;Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa 2017&rsquo; has revealed that over half (55%) of UAE residents prefer to &lsquo;be self-employed / have their own business&rsquo;, if given the choice. In fact, even among those who are currently employed, 78% of respondents said that they are either &lsquo;thinking of starting their own business&rsquo; or have already &lsquo;attempted do so in the past&rsquo;.</p>
<p>When it comes to reasons for being self-employed, nearly half (49%) of UAE respondents want to do it for &lsquo;personal fulfilment&rsquo;; 43% believe it affords them the &lsquo;freedom to choose what to work on&rsquo;, and 42% believe it gives them the &lsquo;freedom to choose work-life balance&rsquo;.</p>
<p>For those who have already started their own business, the reasons for doing so are very similar, the top three reasons being: &lsquo;greater independence in what they want to achieve&rsquo; (32%), &lsquo;more income&rsquo; (29%) and a &lsquo;better work-life balance&rsquo; (28%).</p>
<p>The findings reveal entrepreneurship provides great benefits for societies and the economy. The perceived image of entrepreneurs in the UAE is very positive, with 86% of respondents strongly agreeing or somewhat agreeing that entrepreneurs &lsquo;help in creating jobs&rsquo;, 79% strongly agreeing or somewhat agreeing that entrepreneurs are a &lsquo;source of innovation in society&rsquo;, and 75% saying that entrepreneurs &lsquo;create new products and services for the benefit of society&rsquo;. Furthermore, 69% said that entrepreneurs &lsquo;mentor young people and promote the entrepreneurial spirit&rsquo; among others.</p>
<p>That said, 36% of the UAE workforce claim they want to work for pay/ seek employment in a company. For them, the most important factor to work for a company is &lsquo;regular income&rsquo; (50%). Moreover, 47% of respondents think it gives them the opportunity to &lsquo;learn new skills&rsquo; and techniques, while 46% of respondents value the &lsquo;stability of employment / job security&rsquo; offered by a company.</p>
<p><strong>The current MENA entrepreneurial scene</strong></p>
<p>Out of those who are self-employed in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, 68% of respondents have started their own business in the last five years, 17% have started their business in the last 10 years, while 15% started over 15 years ago.</p>
<p>That said, more than a third of MENA respondents (36%) who are self-employed are at the &lsquo;start-up stage&rsquo; of their business; 22% said they have a &lsquo;well-established&rsquo; business that is underperforming, while 22% have a well-established that is performing well.</p>
<p>At the same time, many entrepreneurs are looking to grow their startups and established businesses. 36% of respondents have personal ambitions to &lsquo;obtain more growth and profitability in their country of residence&rsquo;, followed by 22% who aim to become a &lsquo;major international group&rsquo;. In fact, with growth in mind, 66% of surveyed entrepreneurs are planning to hire for their businesses within the next year.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Many countries across the Middle East and North Africa have realized that entrepreneurship is a huge factor that drives growth and innovation in the economy,&rdquo; said Suhail Masri, Vice President of Sales, Bayt.com. &ldquo;As the survey showed, many entrepreneurs are seen as a source of value, innovation, and creating employment opportunities. Many startups are looking to hire and grow their businesses very soon. At Bayt.com we, we work with all organizations and businesses, irrespective of size, to help them secure their talent needs that can take their operations and growth to the next level. In fact, we have many dedicated solutions for startups and small businesses to give them more exposure and access to millions of professionals and job seekers.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>The benefits and challenges of setting up your own business</strong></p>
<p>43% of UAE respondents believe that any time is a good time to start a business, while 36% believe the best time is mid-career. Only 11% think that the best time to start a business is after a &lsquo;lengthy career&rsquo; and only 7% recommend doing so &lsquo;right after college / university&rsquo;.</p>
<p>Respondents were also asked what they consider to be the most appealing industry for entrepreneurs in their country, almost one in ten UAE respondents (10%) think that Real Estate/ Construction is the most appealing, followed by Hospitality/ Entertainment (10%); Commerce/ Trade/ Retail (8%); and Consumer Goods/ FMCG (8%).</p>
<p>Indeed, setting up a business comes with some challenges, irrespective of location or industry. Nearly three fifths of those surveyed claimed that it is &lsquo;difficult to start a business in their country of residence&rsquo;.</p>
<p>When asked about the main difficulties that prevent people from starting their own business, 53% of those who tried to start a business in the past but could not do so cited the inability to &lsquo;obtain financial support&rsquo;, 52% cited the inability to &lsquo;self-finance the start-up of the business&rsquo;, while 37% cited their concerns regarding &lsquo;economic uncertainty&rsquo; (37%).</p>
<p>When respondents were asked what could best support entrepreneurs, over half (52%) in the UAE said &lsquo;easing the laws and regulations of setting up a business&rsquo;, followed by 16% who said &lsquo;reducing taxation&rsquo;, 13% said &lsquo;regulating competition among businesses&rsquo;, and another 13% said &lsquo;facilitating access to skilled labor&rsquo;.</p>
<p>The best pieces of advice offered to budding entrepreneurs by respondents in the MENA region, including the UAE, is to not be &lsquo;afraid of failure&rsquo; (44%); to &lsquo;have a great business plan&rsquo; (12%), and to have a &lsquo;great and well-researched business idea&rsquo; and &lsquo;marketing plan&rsquo; (both 10%). Furthermore, respondents in the MENA region said the key to success as an entrepreneur is &lsquo;innovation&rsquo; (27%) and &lsquo;employing the right people&rsquo; (25%).</p>
<p>&ldquo;Entrepreneurship continues to be a growing trend in the Middle East and North Africa, and despite the given challenges of setting up a business, our research indicates that entrepreneurship has become more popular than ever before,&rdquo; said Anjali Chhabra, YouGov Associate Research Director. &ldquo;Entrepreneurs greatly contribute to a country&rsquo;s GDP and help create job opportunities, so encouraging them within the region is highly beneficial for all.&rdquo;</p>
<p><em>Data for the Bayt.com &lsquo;Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa&rsquo; 2017 survey was collected online from October 1 to October 22, 2017, with 4,570 respondents from the UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, Sudan and Pakistan.</em></p>
Emaar, Emirates and iPhone lead brand advocacy in Middle East countriesAntonia Stockwellantonia.stockwell@yougov.com/en/people/antonia.stockwell/https://mena.yougov.com/en/news/2017/11/22/emaar-emirates-and-iphone-lead-brand-advocacy-midd/
<p align="center"><em>YouGov BrandIndex reveals the top 10 most recommended brands by consumers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt</em></p>
<p>According to the latest brand rankings from YouGov BrandIndex, Emaar, Emirates and iPhone are the number one brands consumers are most likely to recommend to friends in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt respectively.</p>
<p>The 2017 Advocacy Rankings, produced by YouGov&rsquo;s daily brand tracking tool, considered which brands consumers have endorsed the most over the past year in all three countries by asking respondents, &quot;Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?&quot; and &ldquo;Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?&rdquo;</p>
<p>Having developed some of the country&rsquo;s most iconic entertainment attractions, hot spots, hotels, malls and residential and commercial communities, Emaar has produced consumer experiences that have helped to shape the UAE&rsquo;s popularity as one of the leading destinations of the world. The rankings demonstrate in the past 12 months the Emaar experience has made the biggest lasting impression on UAE consumers, enough to make them endorse the brand the most to others.</p>
<p>Behind Emaar, the UAE&rsquo;s top 10 most recommended brands include three other home-grown brands with national airlines Emirates and Etihad Airways securing second and sixth place respectively, while Emirates NBD comes in seventh.</p>
<p>iPhone and Apple score highly in third and fourth place respectively, leading the most endorsed tech and mobile brands and unchallenged by their competitors in the top 10. Meanwhile WhatsApp sits in fifth and Google in eighth, proving the worthiest of advocacy among social messaging and search brands in the Emirates.</p>
<p>Rounding out the 2017 Advocacy Rankings are leading multinational retailer Carrefour, franchised by Majid Al Futtaim, in ninth place, followed by financial services and global payments technology leader Visa, in tenth.</p>
<p><img alt="YouGov BrandIndex 2017 Advocacy Rankings: UAE" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-11-21/yougov-brandindex-2017-advocacy-rankings-uae.png" style="width: 660px; height: 538px;" /></p>
<p>Responses recorded over the last 12 months from Saudi residents reveals that Emirates received the highest brand advocacy in the Kingdom taking the number one spot in the top 10, ahead of fellow highly recommended airlines Qatar Airways in eighth and Etihad Airways in ninth. Emirates has been serving Saudi Arabia for over 27 years and operates to four cities in the Kingdom. The past year saw the airline produce special fares to the country&nbsp;and a very special video message&nbsp;with football team Real Madrid&nbsp;to&nbsp;congratulate Saudi Arabia on its 86<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;National Day.</p>
<p>Apple and its trademark iPhone sit in second and third place respectively, again giving them the highest seal of approval among tech and mobile brands in the Kingdom. Meanwhile Saudi FMCG powerhouse Almarai is the fourth brand most recommended to friends among Saudis, and UAE-born property developer Emaar sits comfortably as the fifth most endorsed in the country.</p>
<p>Al Baik is the most highly commended fast food brand among Saudi consumers in sixth place, while Saudi electronic payment network mada, and banking house-hold name Alinma Bank lead brand advocacy among financial services brands in seventh and tenth place respectively.</p>
<p><img alt="YouGov BrandIndex 2017 Advocacy Rankings: KSA" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-11-21/yougov-brandindex-2017-advocacy-rankings-ksa.png" style="width: 660px; height: 538px;" /></p>
<p>In its tenth anniversary year, 2017 has seen three new iPhones launched to a healthy worldwide reception. Having tracked the brand&rsquo;s advocacy over the last 12 months, BrandIndex can confirm iPhone is the most likely brand to be recommended to friends among Egypt residents.</p>
<p>The second most heavily endorsed brand in the Egypt Advocacy Top 10 is established Egyptian real estate developer Mountain View. Digital based brands take up another four spots with world social heavyweight Facebook, search giant Google and instant messaging phenomenon WhatsApp in third, fourth and fifth respectively; video sharing platform YouTube stands in eighth.</p>
<p>Galaxy, in sixth, and Almarai in seventh represent the most highly endorsed FMCG brands over the past year in Egypt, while L&rsquo;Oreal Paris and Maybelline round out the top 10 as the most highly commended make-up brands among Egyptian consumers in ninth and tenth place respectively.</p>
<p><img alt="YouGov BrandIndex 2017 Advocacy Rankings: Egypt" src="https://d25d2506sfb94s.cloudfront.net/cumulus_uploads/inlineimage/2017-11-21/yougov-brandindex-2017-advocacy-rankings-egypt-.png" style="width: 660px; height: 538px;" /><br />
Commenting on the rankings, Head of YouGov BrandIndex - MENA, Scott Booth said, &ldquo;Brand advocacy is one of the most powerful marketing tools businesses can have. The act of recommendation shows consumers have had a very positive experience with a brand, and the top 10 in each of these countries have achieved just that. Understanding how little or how much consumers want friends to have the same experience they have had provides invaluable insight into delivery on brand promise and gives us a strong starting point from which to identify how the best brands differentiate themselves in this respect.&rdquo;</p>
<p><strong>How much do consumers advocate your brand? Contact Head of BrandIndex - MENA,&nbsp;<a href="mailto:scott.booth@yougov.com">Scott Booth</a> to find out.</strong></p>
<p><strong><a href="/find-solutions/brandindex/">Discover more about BrandIndex &raquo;</a></strong></p>
<p><em>For this ranking, YouGov BrandIndex screened 546 brands in the UAE, 496 brands in Saudi Arabia and 287 brands in Egypt for their net Recommend score, which asks respondents &quot;Would you recommend the brand to a friend or colleague?&quot; and &ldquo;Would you tell a friend or colleague to avoid the brand?&rdquo; Only respondents who are current or former customers of a given brand are interviewed. Data was collected between November 1, 2016 and October 31, 2017 on brands that had been tracked for at least 6 months with a minimum sample of 500.</em></p>